fixing cast iron pot

[faithtreker]

Has anyone ever successfully welded holes in a cast Iron bean pot?

[rickevans]

My father-in-law collects and restores antique cast iron stoves. he says welding cast iron can be done, however it would cost way more than a new bean pot costs.

[Captchee]

i have never done it . but i have a 3 leg pot that  has a crack welded up   on one side

[Stormrider51]

I've brazed cast iron, or ductile iron as it's sometimes called.  You didn't say how large the hole(s) are and the larger the hole the more difficult the repair.  First, use a grinder to flare the edges of the hole so it looks sort of like a funnel.  Use an oxyacetylene rig and a copper alloy rod to fill the hole.  You do NOT want to heat the iron to its melting point (circa 1470 F) as you normally would with gas welding.  Doing so will greatly increase the likelihood of thermal cracking the pot.  It will also help if you can partially bury the pot in dry sand to make it cool slowly after the repair is done.  Set the pot in sand and add metal from the inside.  Cast iron is prone to thermal cracking and the heating up and cooling down phases are where this is most likely to happen.  Carefully heat the area of the hole to cherry red.  Wear protective gear because the metal may give off sparks.  The sparks are the carbon in the iron reacting to the heat.  Keep the flame moving to evenly heat the area around the hole.  When you reach cherry start adding metal with the rod.  Keep going until you fill the hole.  When done allow to cool slowly.  Finally, carefully grind away any excess metal.  The copper used to fill the hole will not match the normal grey or black of the pot but the hole will be filled and the pot usable.

If you want to try this and have questions feel free to PM me and I'll try to help.

Storm

[Captchee]

interesting storm rider . ill have to take a photo of  my castiron pot . ist not brazed but truly werlded. sure would be interesting to know how it was done

[cb]

Interesting info on cast iron welding from a company that does it....
http://www.locknstitch.com/CastIronWeld ... PAodgn0Abg

[greyhunter]

My grand father was able to weld cast iron, esp during ww2 when engine blocks cracked they brought them to him. I have seen cast iron rod in supply stores but have never tried it. Unfortunately, my paternal grandfather passed away when I was just two and I never had the benefit of learning from his substantial mechanical talents. Have been told by many old timers he was able to repair anything. Look for the rod and experiment on scrap cast before going after your cookware. Like others have said, replacements are reasonably bought.

[Stormrider51]

I know that cast iron can be welded but I've never done it.  The brazing method I described is a safer, easier means of making  repairs such as filling a hole.  I wouldn't suggest brazing for anything that would be subjected to a lot of stress such as an automobile engine though.  Cast iron is ornery stuff.  I worked in a foundry one summer many moons ago and we hated casting runs of ductile iron because of the extra steps required.

Storm

[pathfinder]

It's great to do the repair's,IF you like messing with stuff,it's really cool to try different thing's. But,these are found quite often at flea market's and antique shop's. Although,I DO understand being attached to yer "stuff"!

[Three Hawks]

In the long ago (Late sixties) when I was a yoot of some 20 summers I worked for an old boy in Kelso, WA who had a shop on the Cowlitz River.  He could weld cast iron and hated it.  He charged five times more for welding cast iron than he did for welding steel.  Anyway he'd bury the object to be welded in a steel box of wood ash with the bit to be welded showing.  Then he'd use oxyacetylene and solid nickel rod.  After he was done, he'd pile ash up over the new weld and leave it for two days to cool.  He also flatly refused to guarantee the weld.  I think if he'd been less grouchy about welding cast Iron he'd never get as many jobs of it as he did.

 The job I liked best was repairing hydraulic jacks for Weyerhaeuser.  He had jigs and wrenches made up for all the ones they had.  Taking 'em apart and replacing the O rings was easy-peasy.  

They also sent all the new jacks they bought to us to have the slotted valve stems and the ones with tee pins for the jack handles to turn 'em replaced with knurled ones we made of brass round stock.  The dumb-ass workers Weyerhaeuser had would jam the valves shut so hard they galled in the seats and leaked turning a $300 jack into a lousy boat anchor.  With the knurled valves it took a lot longer to ruin 'em.  I have two old juice jacks I put knurled valves in forty years ago.  I shut 'em and open 'em with just my thumb and forefinger.  They should be working fine in 3012.

Three Hawks

[huntinguy]

It can be welded. Just have to know what you are doing and be careful. None of the engine blocks ever came back.    But then I also moved so.....

First you have to find the end of the hole and stop it.
Proper cleaning is mandatory.
Preheating is required.
Stretchering the weld is important.
Slow cooling after the weld is a necessity.
and a rabbits foot is handy.

[Gordon H.Kemp]

Cast iron can be welded , but ! those things mentioned by others here must be followed . The heating /cooling cannot be hap hazard , Other than nhe heating cooling cycles , cleaning is very important . Cast iron welding filler rods can be made from scrap pcs. of parts of other broken cast items . If the scraps are from the same foundry as the item(s) to be repaired , this is a bonus toward success . One of the biggest problems with cast is it has a tendancy to retain dirt grease and etc. even after cleaning and grinding . I,ve had some items that were great to weld , but mostly NOT!  A person needs to practice on much scrap before attempting this type of weld. The success rate for this type of weld is quite low on old cast . I would suggest using a braze instead of a weld .